Bitter Sweet Memories & A Forgotten Past
by kmc44
Summary: Summer begs Seth to come to his senses and relize what he is leaving behind. But Seth is determined, and leaves behind everything he ever knew and loved.
1. Chapter 1

September 7th, 2004

"It's senior year Cohen!" Exclaimed Summer Roberts with joy.

"Even though Coop and Ryan won't be here, we can still have the best year of our lives!" She said as she wrapped an arm around Seth Cohen.

"I suppose" mumbled Seth. "But it won't be the same without Ryan."

"But we have each other" Whispered Summer. "And nothing can ever change that. Promise we'll be together forever?"

"Promise" Said Seth, fully believing they would be together forever.

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9 Months Later, June 26th, 2006.

"The time has come for all of us to move on, but we will forever hold dear these years spent together at Harbor. Through thick and thin, we have made it. Congratulations class of 2006! Good luck in the future, I wish to you the best of luck, and hope to see you all again."

Exclaimed valedictorian Summer Roberts as she ended not only her speech, but her years at Harbor. With that said, she hopped down from the podium and back to her seat so they could begin handing out the diplomas.

As she sat down, she was flooded with memories. Memories of her and Seth. She felt tears well up in her eyes, and desperately pushed aside any thoughts of Seth Cohen. She glanced around the elaborately decorated room, and spotted him seated with all the other C's. He saw her glancing at him, and Summer looked away quickly.

Summer closed her eyes briefly and wished she could fix her broken relationship with Seth. She couldn't exactly pin point when things had started to go wrong, but it all began to go downhill at the beginning of May, when she suggested they take a break. Well that back fired horribly, and now Seth wouldn't talk to her. He had no idea how much she regretted that day, and she would do anything to take it back.

She was brought out of her reverie when she heard Seth's name. She looked up and saw Seth with a forced smile, walking up to get his diploma. What surprised her most was what the Dean said.

"Seth will be continuing his education in, I quote, 'A town far far away from here.' Good luck Seth, and I hope you come back to visit from time to time"

As far as Summer had known, he was going to College in a town only an hour away from home. She was going to stay in Orange County for a year, and then possibly move to New York.

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3 hours later, graduation and everything that came with it was done. Summer saw people sipping refreshments, and looked frantically for Seth. She spotted him talking with one of his comic book buddies. She tapped him on the shoulder and looked at him hopefully.

"What do you want?" He spat bitterly. "Haven't you done enough already? Are you going to ruin my graduation too?"

"Seth, don't be like this" Begged Summer. "We still have the entire summer to work this out. Where are you going for college?"

"Actually, we don't have the summer. As of July 5th, I am going to visit my Aunt in Texas for awhile, come home for a week or so, and then leave this hell whole for good" Said Seth, looking somewhat happy for once.

"Texas? We can make his work Seth! You can't just run away from your problems. Running isn't going to get you anywhere in life" Said Summer, on the verge of tears.

"I'm not running from my problems, Summer. I'm getting away from you. You were the one who wanted a break. So I'm leaving. I'm going to forget this town even exists, and start over new. And if you have a problem with that, too bad. You started this. Good luck fixing it." With that, Seth turned on his heel and stalked towards his parents. Summer watched as Mr. Cohen gave him the keys, and Seth left the building. A single tear rolled down Summer's cheek as she watched the love of her life walk away forever. Deep down, she knew he wouldn't be back. Seth was determined, and she knew how much he had hated California from a young age.

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A month and a half had passed since that dreadful graduation, and Summer had decided she would go to New York right away this year. She concluded that the only reason she had planned on staying in Orange County was to be near Seth, but he obviously didn't want her, and he wasn't even going to the be there anyway. He powerful father had managed to get her into a fashion institute in New York City, even though it should have been too late for her to enroll. Summer looked around her room. She had only 2 more days until she left, and she had packed a lot of her belongings. She had 6 suitcases of clothing, and she still had a good portion of her closet to pack. She was going to be sharing a dorm suite in the City with 3 other girls, who happened to be the daughters of some of her father's colleagues.

Summer sighed as she took down a picture from her mirror. It was her and Seth on the beach. She starred at it for a few moments, remembering what had once been. She decided she would take it with her. She slipped it into one of her many suitcases.

She decided she had done enough packing for one day, and decided to go visit Seth one last time to see if maybe he had come to his senses.

She grabbed her purse and ran out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Summer pulled her silver BMW into the Cohen's driveway, and parked hurriedly. She ran up to the door and pressed the doorbell twice. Ryan answered.

'Hey Summer. He's upstairs" Said Ryan as he made his way back into the kitchen.

"Thanks" Mumbled Summer as she went up the stairs. She stood outside Seth's room for a minute, trying to gain her composure, and planning what she would say.

She knocked, and waited impatiently for Seth to let her in.

"It's open" Called Seth, expecting to see Ryan, or his mom.

"Summer. Hey" Said Seth, starring suspiciously at her.

"Seth, snap out of it" Said Summer as she waved a hand in front of his face. "Stop looking at me like that"

Seth leaned back against his bed, waiting for summer to explain why she decided to ruin his day with a visit. "Well..." prodded Seth. "What brings you here? I could be reading the latest X-man."

Summer rolled her eyes in typical Summer fashion and began to speak. "Cohen, this is getting ridiculous. I said we needed a break, and you flipped. It didn't have to be like this. It's the summer before our lives change for good. And you ruined it by sitting around and sulking. We could have fixed this. We could have made it work. But you ran away to Texas, in typical Seth style. If it's not Texas, it's Tahiti. I'm leaving for New York in two days. This is our chance."

"You know what is ridiculous Summer? That you keep saying I ruined this. That it's MY fault. How about those times I tried to call you and you always gave me some lame excuse about 'spa day?' Or when I tried to talk to you at the beach party and you blew me off for some water polo player? Funny how you blame it all on me and make yourself look like a little angel. You know what? I'm done. I'm done with you, this town, and everything that goes with it." Said Seth, angrier then he had been in quite some time.

"And just how are you 'done with this town?'" Asked Summer, with eyebrows raised.

"I'm leaving Summer. Tomorrow. Not only am I leaving this god forsaken town, I'm leaving the country. I never told you, but I applied and was accepted to college in Canada. And I'm going." Seth looked down as he said the last part, unable to face Summer's reaction.

"What? Why are you doing this?" Sobbed Summer, as she sat on the edge of Seth's bed.

Seth put his arm around Summer, as the last tears fell down her face.

"I have to do this" He whispered. "It is best for everyone."

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Seth sighed and put his head in his hands. Summer had left a few minutes earlier. And it finally hit him. He was leaving for good, and there were very slim chances he would ever see her again.

He looked around to see if he had already packed Captain Oats. He spotted him sitting on top of an open suitcase, waiting to be zipped up.

"Well buddy, it's that time. I never thought it would be so hard to leave. But I suppose its all for the best in the end. I hope you won't miss Princess Sparkles too much. We'll find a replacement. I promise. We've got an early plane tomorrow, but I'll unpack you first thing. Alright? From here on out, it's just you and me." With that, he zipped Captain Oats into the large suitcase containing his comics.

Early the next morning, Seth heard banging on his door.

"Seth! Get up! I hope you packed! You've got a plane to catch!" Came the voice of his mother. Seth rolled his eyes and threw off the covers. As he stood, he looked around his room one last time.

"Good-Bye room. We shall meet again in the future. Maybe" Said Seth, with a touch of emotion in his voice.

"Honey did you say something?" Called his mom.

Seth sighed. "No mom. Just making sure I'm all packed."

10 minutes later, Seth was attempting to drag his suitcases down the stairs. Realizing they were much too heavy for his likings, he picked up his back pack, ran to the top of the stairs and began to shout.

"Father! Ryan! Come quick! These suitcases are over taking me!"

With a satisfied smile, he watched as his father and Ryan lugged his belongings down the stairs. He was only taking the necessities with him, and his parents were going to ship the rest of them up to him.

Seth watched as Ryan loaded his life into the back of the Range Rover, which was parked in the garage. Seth wandered around the garage, and noticed bits and pieces of his childhood. His first skateboard, his pogo stick, and even his marbles lying on a shelf where they had been abandoned years earlier.

"Well this is awkward" Thought Seth, leaving the garage in a hurry. He didn't like all those memories flooding back.

Half an hour later, they had arrived at the airport, and Mrs. Cohen was a whining crying mess. Seth looked around impatiently.

"Yes mother. I'll call when I get there. Okay. A car will be waiting. Mother! Of course I have Captain Oats" Exclaimed Seth, offended that his own MOTHER wasn't aware how much Captain Oats meant to him.

"Flight 067 to Ottawa, Canada is now boarding at gate 3" Came a static voice from somewhere above.

"That's you, Seth" Said Mr. Cohen, looking slightly tearful himself.

"Good luck son" Whispered Mr. Cohen as he hugged Seth good bye.

"I'll miss you dad. All our father son talks. And all moms attempted cooking. And you Ryan. I'll miss you. We've only known each other for like 3 years. But you're coming to visit. I'll buy the ticket in advance. No excuses. I will show you the great nation of Canada." Babbled Seth.

"You know, I just might miss you and you babbling" Said Ryan with a hint of a smile.

"Okay so I guess this is it" Said Seth uncertainly as he hugged everyone one final time.

"Go on, honey. You've wanted to do this for so long" Said Mrs. Cohen gently.

"Yah. So I'll talk to you all soon" Seth slung his back over his shoulder, pulled out his Ipod, and grabbed his ticket. He turned away, and began to walk down to the corridor. After showing his ticket, he waved one last time to his family and proceeded to board the plane, not knowing what the future held.


End file.
